Improvement in weft-feeding dlvice for hair-cloth ljoms



JOHN BLANCHARD, OF PAWTUOKE'I, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN WEFT-I'EEDING DEVICE FOR HAIR-CLOTH LIOIVIS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 46.4142, dated February21, 1865; antedated February 16, 1865.

T0 all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, Jol-1N BLANCHARD, of Pawtucket, in the county ot'Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and ImprovedFeeder for Hair-Gloth Looms; and I do hereby declare that the followingspecification, taken in connection with the drawing, making a part ofthe same, isa full, clear, and exact description thereof.

The drawing exhibits in perspective the instrument. A

My invention is especially applicable to power-looms for weavinghair-cloth, and is designed to provide a simple and efficient means forreadily selecting a single hair to be used i'or the weft of the cloth tobe woven from a bunch ot' hair conveniently placed for the purpose.

It is well understood among those familiar with the art of weavinghair-cloth that four` or more harnesses are employed to weave the thebody ot' the cloth between the selvedges in order to give tothe fabric atwilled suri'ace. Formerly each hair ot' the illing was supplied to theloom by an attendant, who, with the thumb and foretinger of the righthand dexterously rolled a single length ot'hair from the surface layersof a bunch held in the left hand and presented it to the vibrating' hookor nippers, which in this class ot' looms occupies the place andperforms the functions of the shuttle in a cotton-loom. Several in ventions have been made for selecting lengths of hair singly from a bunchby mechanical means, the principal of which that has been put into useis the one described in Isaac Lindsleys patent, dated June 25, A. D.1861. The method described in that patent, and which is common to themajority of other mechanical feeders for the same purpose, is'theemployment of three separate and distinct sets of apparatus. consists ofan instrument shaped somewhat like a lance, which, as it reciprocates,is thrust through a bunch of hairs, and is provided with a notch whichis capable of holding only a single hair. The second is a device forretaining the single hair so taken up in the notch until the thirdapparatus can seize it and introduce it between the threads of the warp.The action of these three distinct and independent sets of apparatus incombination The iirst of these three.

constitute the mode of operation for feeding mechanically the weft tolooms of this class, which is generally employed. I have succeeded in myinvention in accomplishing the same result by the use of an instrumentwhich imitates the action of the thumb and foreiinger of the human handin separating a single hair from a bunch by combining within itself themeans for both selecting it and seizing it, whereby the several distinctsets of apparatus above mentioned are dispensed with, while at the sametime a greater simplicity and certainty ot' operation is secured. Thisinstrument or apparatus shown in the drawing must be supposed to beattached to a loom, and to have a reciprocating motion, coincident withthe beat of the lay, imparted to it in the usual way either by means ofa wagstaft' or by straps worked by cams, as isv well understood by allpersons conversant with the manufacture of hair-cloth.

A is a sheath, which incloses a slender bar or finger, B, fitted toslide to a limited extent longitudinally in a channel or mortise, whichit nearly tills, there being only sufficient space between the inger andthe sheath at the extremity of the latter to be filled by a single hair.The surface of this Afinger is provided with a number of barbs, like theteeth of a file, a a a, upon that part which can be protruded beyond thesheath. It is well that each of these barbs should be capable of holdinga single hair only, but it is not necessary, as the space between thesheath and the finger determines how many hairs shall be gripped, andthe excess will be permitted to fall. As the apparatus is carried by theaction of the loom toward the bunch of hairs which it must be supposedare placed in a box at the side of the loom) the ringer B is thrust outof its sheath far enough to enter the outer layers of hairs by theaction of the block C, to which the actuatingstraps are attached,striking against the rear end of the. linger, which is turned up atright angles to its length, as shown at D. As soon as the lay stops andcommences to beat in the opposite direction a spring, E, which may bearranged as shown and has been compressed by the forward movement of thenger, causes the finger B, by its recoil, to be instantly drawn backinto the sheath.

The operation of the apparatus in selecting and securing a single hairis a-s follows: The inger B enters the bunch of hairs only far enough toenable some one of tbe layers of hairs near the surface of the bunch tobe drawn by one of the barbs into the end of the sheath, Where it isgripped by the pressure of the parts and held until it has been drawnthrough the shed of the Warp, when the hair may be released by a slightforward movement of the nger, caused by the striking of the block()against a stop set for the purpose.V It will be of no consequence ifeach of the barbs in the linger should happen to take a hair, as the oneonly which is rst gripped at the mouth of the sheath will be held, andthe others, having nothing to keep them in the barbs, will nofl be drawnfrom the bunch'.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

The improved feeder for a hair-cloth loom, described, constructed, andoperated substantially as herein specified. y

JOHN BLANCHARD. XTitnesses:

BENJ..F. THURs'roN, WV. B. ViNCEN'r.

